Bible Verses [1] And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.	V.1 In the continuation of this sixth and final series/thread about the Seven Angels, which started in 17:1 with the first angel of the series, this is the Second Angel, which is of course the Jewish Angel. As with all the religions they expect the coming of their Lord, the Messiah, but they just did not recognize Him in Jesus, or in Muhammad (as neither did the Christians) nor so far in the Bab and Baha'u'llah (as have neither so far the Christians or the Muslims.) However, these Days are just beginning and that is what these events are all about. O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus, the Spirit of God, put Me to death, for He hath once more, in My person, been made manifest unto you. Deal with Me as ye wish, for I have vowed to lay down My life in the path of God. I will fear no one, though the powers of earth and heaven be leagued against Me. Followers of the Gospel! If ye cherish the desire to slay Muhammad, the Apostle of God, seize Me and put an end to My life, for I am He, and My Self is His Self. Do unto Me as ye like, for the deepest longing of Mine heart is to attain the presence of My Best-Beloved in His Kingdom of Glory. Such is the Divine decree, if ye know it. Followers of Muhammad! If it be your wish to riddle with your shafts the breast of Him Who hath caused His Book the Bayan to be sent down unto you, lay hands on Me and persecute Me, for I am His Well-Beloved, the revelation of His own Self, though My name be not His name. I have come in the shadows of the clouds of glory, and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty. He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. I, verily, anticipate from you the treatment ye have accorded unto Him that came before Me. To this all things, verily, witness, if ye be of those who hearken. O people of the Bayan! If ye have resolved to shed the blood of Him Whose coming the Bab hath proclaimed, Whose advent Muhammad hath prophesied, and Whose Revelation Jesus Christ Himself hath announced, behold Me standing, ready and defenseless, before you. Deal with Me after your own desires. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.101)
[2] And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.	V.2 Babylon can represent any one of many cities and indeed the term can be seen to represent the whole of present day immoral materialistic society. However, the archtype is New York City and, as has been explained elsewhere, it has become strongly identified with the Jews, so that it is fitting that these verses should be associated with the Second Angel. The imagery of the fall of Babylon, the city of the Jews, associated with the Second Angel, is strongly shown in the following verses. (See Rev 14:8; Rev 18:8-24) The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies. (Baha'u'llah as quoted by Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 3, p. 416) Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge. (Baha'u'llah, CLIII Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah) .
[3] For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.	V.3 The city epitomized, in many people's minds, as Babylon the Great has been a center; perhaps one could say The Center of world commerce. The world markets seem to radiate from it and all others seem to be satellites to it. Certainly, immense wealth has been accumulated by the merchants of the earth who are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. The flames of hell have been made to blaze, and heaven hath been brought nigh; the celestial gardens are in flower, and fresh pools are brimming over, and paradise gleameth in beauty -- but the unaware are still mired down in their empty dreams. ('Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 14) Suffer not the hem of My sacred vesture to be smirched and mired with the things of this world, and follow not the promptings of your evil and corrupt desires. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah)
[4]And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.	V.4 John heard another Voice from Heaven. This Voice, like the Voices in verses 1 and 7 of chapter 16 is not to be identified as one of Seven Angels (the next angel, the Hindu Angel, appears in verse 21), but rather as before, is related to the eighth and nineth Angels of the Babi and Baha'i Faiths. The warning in this verse was reiterated by the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith that for two cities there were "... a bare fifteen adult Baha'is to be left in each of these cities, over which unsuspected dangers are hanging ...", (Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, Citadel of Faith, p. 128) the two cities being Chicago and New York, the pre-eminent historical cities of the Baha'i Faith in North America. New York is often singled out as the premier city in the world that seems to symbolize these sins and to be a hold, a central place of store of them. While a great many cities in the world equally contain the elements of the world's corruption - and may equally well suffer its fate - still New York stands in many people's eyes as the epitome of Babylon the Great. It has been so targeted, not only in the minds of its enemies, but in the actuality of their actions If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which, in peerless and unequivocal language, We have revealed in this Tablet, Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye shall have no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence. (Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 9)
[5] For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.	V.5 O OPPRESSORS ON EARTH! Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for I have pledged Myself not to forgive any man's injustice. This is My covenant which I have irrevocably decreed in the preserved tablet and sealed it with My seal of glory. (Baha'u'llah, Persian Hidden Word no.64)
[6] Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.	V.6 This city is to be rewarded double in chastisement, as it has filled the cup with iniquities. Collateral with this ominous laxity in morals, and this progressive stress laid on man's material pursuits and well-being, is the darkening of the political horizon, as witnessed by the widening of the gulf separating the protagonists of two antagonistic schools of thought which, however divergent in their ideologies, are to be commonly condemned by the upholders of the standard of the Faith of Baha'u'llah for their materialistic philosophies and their neglect of those spiritual values and eternal verities on which alone a stable and flourishing civilization can be ultimately established. (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 125)
[7] How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.	V.7 This city glorifies herself, as it is rich in living a delicious material life, and brags that it is the queen of cities, and will see no sorrow. For a long time the religious world had been weakened and materialism had advanced; the spiritual forces of life were waning, moralities were becoming degraded, composure and peace had vanished from souls and satanic qualities were dominating hearts; strife and hatred overshadowed humanity, bloodshed and violence prevailed. God was neglected; the Sun of Reality seemed to have gone completely; deprivation of the bounties of heaven was a fact; and so the season of winter fell upon mankind. ('Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 256)
[8] Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.	V.8 Suddenly this city 'Babylon' will utterly be destroyed with fire. There will be death, mourning, and famine as God judges this city (and others like it). But, these verses also have spiritual significance and lack of spiritually is shown in the seven plagues that have taken over Babylon, described in chapter 16.
[9] And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,	V.9 It is ... cancerous materialism, ...which Baha'u'llah in unequivocal and emphatic language denounced in His Writings, comparing it to a devouring flame and regarding it as the chief factor in precipitating the dire ordeals and world-shaking crises that must necessarily involve the burning of cities and the spread of terror and consternation in the hearts of men. Indeed a foretaste of the devastation which this consuming fire will wreak upon the world, and with which it will lay waste the cities of the nations participating in this tragic world-engulfing contest, has been afforded by the last World War... in the global havoc which humanity, forgetful of its God and heedless of the clear warnings uttered by His appointed Messenger for this day, must, alas, inevitably experience. (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 125)
[10] Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.	V.10 At the time that John recorded these words it would have been impossible to imagine how such a giant city might have been destroyed in a hour in the manner described. Today it takes little imagination to think of people standing at a distance and viewing what has occurred. This, indeed, is a chastisement which ye, of your own will, have inflicted upon yourselves, could ye but perceive it. Are ye rejoicing in the things which, according to the estimate of God, are contemptible and worthless, things wherewith He proveth the hearts of the doubtful? (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 208) We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise you! (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.214)
[11] And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:	V.11 The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective. I beseech God, exalted be His glory, that He may graciously awaken the peoples of the earth, may grant that the end of their conduct may be profitable unto them, and aid them to accomplish that which beseemeth their station. (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 171) The disastrous failure of both the Disarmament and Economic 190 Conferences; the obstacles confronting the negotiations for the limitation of Naval armaments; the withdrawal of two of the most powerful and heavily armed nations of the world from the activities and membership of the League of Nations; the ineptitude of the parliamentary system of government as witnessed by recent developments in Europe and America; the inability of the leaders and exponents of the Communist movement to vindicate the much-vaunted principle of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat; the perils and privations to which the rulers of the Totalitarian states have, in recent years, exposed their subjects -- all these demonstrate, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the impotence of present-day institutions to avert the calamities with which human society is being increasingly threatened. What else remains, a bewildered generation may well ask, that can repair the cleavage that is constantly widening, and which may, at any time, engulf it? (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 189)
[12] The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,	V.12 The next three verses present a list of material things but the whole of the world, creation, and the Book of Revelation is filled with inner significances. Every color, sound, odor, texture as represented in physical objects has spiritual significance. Beware lest ye scatter the pearls of inner significance before every barren, dumb one. Verily, the blind are deprived of witnessing the lights and are unable to distinguish between the stone and the holy, precious pearl. (Baha'u'llah, The Tablet of the Branch, in Baha'i World Faith, p. 207)
[13] And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.	V.13 Thus have We delivered unto thee some of the jewels of wisdom and utterance, in order that thou mayest gaze unto the direction of thy Lord and be severed from all the creatures. May the spirit and glory rest upon thee, and upon those who dwell upon the plain of holiness and who remain in the Cause of their Lord in manifest steadfastness! (Baha'u'llah, The Tablet of the Branch, in Baha'i World Faith, p. 207)
[14] And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.	V.14 As pointed out in the verses above the true goods of this world are actually fruits of the soul. The external objects are all that are recognized by those with materialistic minds. That the forces of a world catastrophe can alone precipitate such a new phase of human thought is, alas, becoming increasingly apparent. That nothing short of the fire of a severe ordeal, unparalleled in its intensity, can fuse and weld the discordant entities that constitute the elements of present-day civilization, into the integral components of the world commonwealth of the future, is a truth which future events will increasingly demonstrate. (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 46)
[15] The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,	V.15 Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye shall have no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence. Have mercy on yourselves and on those beneath you, and judge ye between them according to the precepts prescribed by God in His most holy and exalted Tablet, a Tablet wherein He hath assigned to each and every thing its settled measure, in which He hath given, with distinctness, an explanation of all things, and which is in itself a monition unto them that believe in Him. (Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 190) The merchants of all the finery, which have made both them and the city rich, stand far away in fear of this torment There is great weeping and wailing because of their loss. The chastisement is very great.
[16] And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!	V.16 Erelong will the breaths of chastisement seize thee, as they seized others before thee. Wait, O thou who hast joined partners with God, the Lord of the visible and the invisible. This is the day which God hath announced through the tongue of His Apostle. Reflect, that thou mayest apprehend what the All-Merciful hath sent down in the Qur'an and in this inscribed Tablet. This is the day whereon He Who is the Dayspring of Revelation hath come with clear tokens which none can number. (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 100)
[17] For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,	V.17 Today we can well envision the ships standing afar off and viewing the scene. The Plain is disclosed, and mankind is sore vexed and fearful. Earthquakes have broken loose, and the tribes have lamented, for fear of God, the Lord of Strength, the All-Compelling.' Say: 'The stunning trumpet blast hath been loudly raised, and the Day is God's, the One, the Unconstrained.' 'Hath the Catastrophe come to pass?' Say: 'Yea, by the Lord of Lords!' (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 131) In the Baha'i Scriptures the inevitable is often spoken of as having already occurred.
[18] And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!	V.18 They knew that there was no city like it. The greatest city of the world for trading is destroyed. An unimaginable loss. Especially when we try to imagine it extended worldwide. No less serious is the stress and strain imposed on the fabric of American society through the fundamental and persistent neglect, by the governed and governors alike, of the supreme, the inescapable and urgent duty -- so repeatedly and graphically represented and stressed by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His arraignment of the basic weaknesses in the social fabric of the nation -- of remedying, while there is yet time, through a revolutionary change in the concept and attitude of the average white American toward his Negro fellow citizen, a situation which, if allowed to drift, will, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha, cause the streets of American cities to run with blood, aggravating thereby the havoc which the fearful weapons of destruction, raining from the air, and amassed by a ruthless, a vigilant, a powerful and inveterate enemy, will wreak upon those same cities. (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 126) This, indeed, is a chastisement which ye, of your own will, have inflicted upon yourselves, could ye but perceive it. Are ye rejoicing in the things which, according to the estimate of God, are contemptible and worthless, things wherewith He proveth the hearts of the doubtful? (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 208)
[19] And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.	V.19 The thing that must come hath come suddenly; behold how they flee from it! The inevitable hath come to pass; witness how they have cast it behind their backs! This is the Day whereon every man will fly from himself, how much more from his kindred, could ye but perceive it. Say: By God! The blast hath been blown on the trumpet, and lo, mankind hath swooned away before us! The Herald hath cried out, and the Summoner raised His voice saying: "The Kingdom is God's, the Most Powerful, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting." (Baha'u'llah, XVIII Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.43)
[20] Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.	V.20 We are told to rejoice, as God has made way for a new world. Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the Knower of things unseen. (Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 121)
[21] And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.	V.21 This Mighty Angel being the next one mentioned is the Hindu Angel. As peculiar as it may seem, this Angel being interjected into the events surrounding Babylon the Great, it is indicative that it has a role to play. Indeed, it may be the initiating role when the first stone is cast, a great mill stone, symbolic of the first use of a nuclear weapon. Before the events happen we can only speculate upon them. The purpose of prophecy is not to foretell the future but for us to understand it in retrospect so that we will have confidence in the Source. Therefore, at this tme this is mere speculation, but we saw previously (in the unique way that verse 14:15 was treated) the exceptional nature that the Muslims of India (now Pakistan) would/could play regarding nuclear weapons. Mark 13:19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. King James Bible Thus it is that he destinies of the nations of the world are intertwined. These same fiery tribulations will not only firmly weld the American nation to its sister nations in both hemispheres, but will through their cleansing effect, purge it thoroughly of the accumulated dross which ingrained racial prejudice, rampant materialism, widespread ungodliness and moral laxity have combined, in the course of successive generations, to produce, and which have prevented her thus far from assuming the role of world spiritual leadership forecast by 'Abdu'l-Baha's unerring pen -- a role which she is bound to fulfill through travail and sorrow. (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 126)
[22] And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;	V.22 The voice of the musicians of that great city which was famous for its music, the arts, and great craftsmen is gone. No sound is heard. The millstone is a symbol of industry, but also is heard no more. CIV. O ye peoples of the world! Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity is following you, and that grievous retribution awaiteth you. Think not the deeds ye have committed have been blotted from My sight. By My beauty! All your doings hath My Pen graven with open characters upon tablets of chrysolite. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 208) "As for those who believe not in the signs of God, or that they shall ever attain His Presence, these of My mercy shall despair, and these doth a grievous chastisement await." (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 115)
[23] And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.	V.23 The light of the candle, meaning the spirituality of the city, will shine no more. The voice of the bride and bridegroom, those who stood for justice and equity, were no longer heard, for the great men and merchants of the city, by gaining power through their evil ways, deceived the nations of the world. In His message to the kings of the earth, Baha'u'llah, ...warns them that "Divine chastisement" will "assail" them "from every direction," if they refuse to heed His counsels... (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 172) Soon shall the blasts of His chastisement beat upon you, and the dust of hell enshroud you. Those men who, having amassed the vanities and ornaments of the earth, have turned away disdainfully from God -- these have lost both this world and the world to come. Ere long, will God, with the Hand of Power, strip them of their possessions, and divest them of the robe of His bounty. To this they themselves shall soon witness. (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 208)
[24] And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.	V.24 The materialistic ways of men brought about the death of the Prophets and saints, those who God had sent to guide mankind toward a life of justice, honesty and love of mankind. "May God hasten the joy His coming will bring!" On the day of the Revelation of that Sun of Truth, however, all, as hath been observed, have exclaimed, saying: "May God hasten His chastisement!" (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 119)

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